1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a trigger operated fluid dispensing device for mounting to a top neck of a bottle or similar liquid storage container.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a quick-locking and child resistant bottle cap assembly for coupling a trigger sprayer type discharging device to the top of the liquid storage container.
This bottle cap assembly is easy to install and cannot be dislodged by accident, for example, by a playing child and therefore ensures a child resistant bottle cap coupling arrangement.
2. Description of the related art including information Disclosed under 37 CFR .sctn.1.97-1.99.
Heretofore various types of bottle cap assemblies, such as for trigger sprayers, have been proposed. Some examples of these previously proposed bottle cap assemblies which are intended to be child resistant and some which may be used with trigger sprayers are disclosed in the following patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Patentee ______________________________________ 4,180,174 Quinn 4,454,965 Kirk, Jr. 4,781,311 Dunning et al. ______________________________________
In the Quinn U.S. Pat. No. 4,180,174 a child resistant threaded closure for a container is disclosed which includes a lower ring-like portion attached to the closure by retractable and extendable legs and having a matching thread. With the closure screwed in place on a container, the ring is pushed down by means of tabs to a position below the last thread on the container with the legs extended whereupon, when an attempt is made to unscrew the closure, the thread segment of the ring interferes with the last thread of the container and prevents its removal. For the closure to be removed, the ring is lifted up by finger pressure applied to the tabs until the legs are fully retracted and the threads match up with the other threads, after which action the closure can be unscrewed.
The Kirk, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 4,454,965 discloses a child resistant trigger pump dispenser having an elongate, transverse oriented body section with a pump outlet at the end thereof and a vertically extending lower end section for receiving fluid from the container. The lower end section of the pump is equipped with a rigidly attached closure member having a multiplicity of short threads with projections on the inner wall of a downwardly depending skirt. The container neck is provided on its outside surface with a multiplicity of lock threads, some having recessed portions at their terminal ends to receive the projections on the skirt of the closure member. The closure member is provided with an upstanding boss which is received in an opening provided in the lower portion of the body member for accommodating a trigger arm whereby the longitudinal or major axis of the trigger pump can be oriented with respect to the engaging short threads provided on the closure member.
The Dunning et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,781,311 discloses a cap closure for sealing the opening to a container. The top neck of the container has either external threads or an external annular bead fastener, and vertical stop walls. The cap closure has an outer annular skirt and inwardly projecting lugs which are adapted to pass over the threads or bead fastener with axial pressure and to abut the walls upon closure while an annular inner skirt seals the top neck of the container. The lugs must be so designed as to spring past the threads or bead fastener when the cap is applied to the neck using axial pressure. The cap closure can be snapped on and off and twisted on and off when the fastening means are external threads and the walls are located diametrically opposite each other so that they abut the lugs in opposite directions relative to the neck. Upon closure, the top side of each lug interfaces with the under surface of the external threads. Depending on the extent of the interfacing, the cap may also be snapped off.
The bottle cap assembly of the present invention is significantly different from the prior Quinn, Kirk, Jr. and Dunning et al. cap closures.
As will be described in greater detail hereinafter, the bottle cap assembly of the present invention comprises a cap closure with a cylindrical base, one or more snap-in assemblies formed in the cylindrical base, each including a resilient locking tab with an opening for receiving a corresponding snap-in lug on the container neck, and a locking ring which is received over the locking lugs for locking the cap closure on the container neck.